Waiting list numbers fall slightly, latest figures show

The numbers on waiting lists for in-patient and out-patient hospital appointments fell slightly last month.

In July, there were 511,675 people waiting on an out-patient procedure compared to 511,415 in June. There were 76,156 patients waiting on in-patient or day case appointments, down from 78,014 in June.

According to the data from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), most hospital groups reported small drops including the Children’s Hospital Group which comprises the country’s three children’s hospitals.

An outlier was Tallaght Children’s Hospital which showed a small rise in waiting lists for out-patient appointments, from 7,391 to 7,424.

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In July, there were 80,332 patients waiting for more than 18 months for an out-patient appointment, a slight drop on the figure for June which stood at 80,697.

However, the number of children on long-term waiting lists grew during the month. A total of 10,632 young patients were waiting for out-patient appointments in a children’s hospital for 18 months or more, up from 10,427 in June.

The number of people waiting on in-patient appointments for more than 18 months also increased from 5,807 to 5,836.

There were 12,589 waiting for planned procedures in July including 735 for procedures in children’s hospitals. This is a slight increase on the 12,567 waiting in June.